GUWAHATI, Aug 2 - The All Assam Students� Union (AASU) has expressed resentment over the fact that during his visit to the State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not make any concrete commitment for dealing with flood and erosion in the Assam as national problems. The student body also expressed the view that being the guardian of the country, the Prime Minister should give equal importance to the problems faced by all the states of India.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said the student body welcomed the visit of the Prime Minister to the State, but that he should have come earlier to understand the miseries of the people. Modi has been rushing to other states like Gujarat whenever such calamities occur and announce liberal packages. This proved that he is not giving equal treatment to all the states of the country, Bhattacharya alleged.
On the financial aids announced by the Prime Minister yesterday, Bhattacharya pointed out that though the State government submitted an interim assessment of loss of Rs 2,939 crore in flood and erosion, the Prime Minister only announced a grant of Rs 250 crore. Though a package of Rs 2,000 crore for the North East was announced, it is not clear which state will get how much money and where the money will be spent, he pointed out.
The AASU chief adviser further said, �The State government is now claiming that the Centre had granted an amount of Rs 350 crore in June. If the money was available with the State government, why did the affected people not get adequate relief and medical facilities,� he questioned.
He said the decision to form a committee of experts to study the course of the River Brahmaputra and a grant of Rs 100 crore for the same is a welcome step. Different experts have been saying that the courses of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries changed after the great earthquake of 1950, but no comprehensive study has so far been carried out. He pointed out that the Central government has been spending thousands of crores of rupees on the River Ganga and its tributaries, so similar steps should have been taken vis-a-vis the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
Bhattacharya demanded that experts from Assam should also be included in the expert committee to be formed for study of the Brahmaputra and due importance should be given to the views of all the experts. He alleged that the Centre did not give any importance to the views expressed by the experts from Assam in matters of the possible downstream impact of the Lower Subansiri Dam project. A similar situation should not happen while studying the course of the Brahmaputra, he said.
He also asked the government to clarify whether the proposed dredging of the bed of the Brahmaputra would start after the study or before it.
The AASU chief adviser further asked the government to clarify whether the possible downstream impact of the proposed dam projects in the neighbouring states were discussed at the meeting yesterday as the chief ministers of the neighbouring states were also present at the meeting.
